Closely allied to the housekeeper's work within the home is the care of
the exterior of the house and its surroundings. It is absolutely
necessary that the grounds be kept neat and clean. In addition to this
they should be made attractive by the careful selection of a few trees
and shrubs suitably placed. While the gardens at the rear of the house
may be planned solely for the pleasure and use of the family, in
planning the lawn at the sides and front the neighbours and passers-by
must be considered. The grounds should be a picture of which the house
is the centre, the trees and shrubs being grouped to frame the picture.
In placing shrubs, the effect of the whole landscape should be
considered. As a rule, shrubs should be placed in corners, to hide
outhouses from view, or to screen other places which should be shielded.
The centre of the lawn should be left free, and in no case should a
shrub be placed in the middle of an open space in a lawn or yard. A few
flowers should be planted among the shrubs, to give colour at different
seasons.
The exterior of the house must be considered, if the picture framed by
the shrubs and vines is to be a pleasing one. The house should be
painted in a soft brown or dark green to blend with the landscape of
oaks and pines. The paint will help to preserve the house, but its
colour must be carefully chosen to give a pleasing effect.
The general plan of the grounds and local conditions in regard to soil
and climate will determine to a large extent the kind of shrubs to be
used. Many beautiful shrubs which have been introduced from foreign
countries do well in Ontario, but our native shrubs serve all decorative
purposes. For damp ground there is no better shrub than the red osier
dogwood. This shrub will do well on almost any kind of soil. The swamp
bush honeysuckle grows quickly and is suitable for clay land; so are the
black elderberry and several species of viburnum. The hazel which may be
obtained from the woods makes a good dense shrub, and the wild rose also
has possibilities. The common barberry is an attractive shrub; but, as
it assists in the formation of wheat rust, it should not be used in
rural sections. The lilac may be used where a high shrub is desirable.
The common arbor vitae or cedar of the swamps makes a good evergreen
shrub. It serves well as a shield for both winter and summer and thrives
with moderate care. The weigela, forsythia, and spiraea are also
excellent shrubs.
The ground at the back of the house should be used for vegetable gardens
with flower borders. For this purpose a deep, rich soil is necessary,
and every square foot of space should be utilized. Every family should
learn to make use of an increased number of vegetables and fruits and to
cook them in a variety of ways. No crops should be allowed to go to
waste. A family of five people could be entirely provided with
vegetables for the summer and autumn from a garden less than fifty by
seventy-five feet.
The attractiveness, as well as the usefulness, of the borders depends
upon the choice and arrangement of flowers. These should be chosen with
due consideration as to height of plants, colour of blooms, and seasons
of blooming. The tallest plants should be placed at the back of the
border; for a border six feet wide none of the plants need be over five
feet in height. There can be a riot of colours, if the flowers are
arranged in clumps of four to six throughout the entire length of the
border. In a well-planned flower border some flowers should be in bloom
each month. Hardy perennial flowers should predominate, with enough
annuals to fill up the spaces and hide the soil. The well-tried,
old-fashioned flowers will give the best satisfaction. Every four years
the flower borders need to be spaded, well manured, and replanted.
The following lists of flowers for borders may be suggestive:
_Perennials._--Bleeding-heart, carnations, chrysanthemums, columbine,
coreopsis, dahlias, gaillardias, golden glow, iris, larkspur, oriental
poppies, peonies, phlox, pinks, platycodon, snapdragon.
_Biennials._--Forget-me-not, foxglove, Canterbury bells, hollyhock,
sweet-william, wallflower.
_Annuals._--African daisy, ageratum, aster, calendula, calliopsis,
balsam, candytuft, cornflower, cosmos, marigold, mignonette, nasturtium,
petunia, poppy, stock, sweet alyssum, sweet-pea, verbena, zinnia, annual
phlox, red sunflower, cut-and-come-again sunflower.
Each home gardener should study garden literature, in order to assist in
solving the garden problems; for the day has passed when one needed only
to scratch the soil with a shell, plant the seeds, and receive an
abundant crop. Today successful gardening depends upon intelligent
management of the soil and crop and upon persistent labour.